Well I finally got Burley Duet up and running this weekend and we took it out Sunday evening for our very first tandem ride. We couldn't get anyone to watch the kids so we loaded everyone up. My 4 year-old decided that she just couldn't share the Burley trailer with her little sister anymore so we added a Co-Pilot seat to bike. Now my wife is in pretty good shape from running but she is by no means a cyclist. I am a pretty hard core roadie so I wasn't sure how this was going to work out. Our first launch went very well, it help that it was slightly down hill, and we took off down the street at steady if not wobbly pace. I've read the great threads about starting off and how the stroker is never wrong so I was very cautious about telling my wife to try to relax and we wouldn't be wobbling down the road. We got through our first stop sign and this launch on a slight up-hill also went very well. We headed to the local velo way and did one lap (about 3 miles) and headed home. We had to stop three times for stop signs and all but one launch (my bad) was very smooth. All in all it went very well. My wife liked it except for some discomfort in the private area. I think this is due to the cheap shorts she bought herself more than seat position (I'm not counting that out and will continue to dial that in). If any of you could recommend a good woman's short I'd be interested in hearing what your partners are wearing.

Thanks to this forum I've got some good advice before setting out and I think we've found something that we can all do together.

I'm just a lone roadie, but I just got a pair of Performance "Ultra" shorts, and they were great on a 42 mile ride. On sale for $39.99 with the 20% coupon - look down in the Hot Deals forum for the current coupon code to use.

If I had to guess, assuming she's not wearing any "shorts" under her shorts (pretty much a no-no), I'd say that those first rides are all going to be uncomfortable. However, it should be her sit-bones that are sore and any discomfort in the 'tweener' region would more likely be a saddle / riding position issue, e.g., saddle too high, saddle nose too high / not level or being too stretched-out (possible if she's short, but not likely if she's of average height). But, then again, I'm not built that way so these are merely suggestions based on what I've learned with Debbie and working out fit/comfort issues with other teams.

As for shorts, I guess if they were really awful or not true cycling shorts they could be part of the problem. There is some variability in cycling shorts and it's often times a trial and error thing to find the right shorts for a given rider's anatomy. Saddles are the same way and about as expensive.

Debbie's been very happy with her Koulias Zaard shorts for about 7 years, but I think they went out of business. REI's body suits were good at first, but the edging around the synthetic chamois wore thin in about a season and that gave way to some nasty chaffing. She also has two very nice body suits from Bellwether, circa 1999 but they too have ceased production, at least of this model/cut. I also picked up some Descente body suits for Debbie, but the legs are too long for her tastes. It goes without saying, somehow Debbie's Zaard and Bellweather shorts never seem to wear out. This is in stark contrast to me as I'll wear out Performance house-brand and Giordana bibs in a season, Pearl Izumi last about 1.5 seasons, Louis Garneau are good for 2 seasons and Santani bibs are "so far so good" after 1 season; time will tell.

We worked on the position for a long while and over all she said she was comfortable. No hand numbness, no neck pain, and her but didn't get sore. Not to be too graphic but she got a "saddle sore" on her tweener. We weren't going that far so I didn't add any chamios butter to her shorts. I based this decision on my cycling butt not her newbie butt so that may have been my mistake and not the shorts at all.

With both kids, I found there was no relation between riding solo and riding on the trailercycle. Both of my children started to ride their tricycle at 2.5-3.

Ève started riding her bike with training wheels a few months shy of her 4th birthday and started to ride on the Trail-a-Bike the day she turned 4. She then decided she didn't want training wheels on her bike... but only learned to ride solo at the end of that summer (4.25). The youngest, Sophie, jumped on the Piccolo trailercycle at 3.5 and she has no problems riding -- and pedalling -- 40 to 60 km in a day. But she shows no interest at all in riding her bike. Yet.